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Page 41. What is Copywriting & Why Is It So Important?Simply put, copywriting is the writing you use in your written promotionalmaterials. This can include your advertising, website, brochure, catalogs,business cards, sales letter and more.Copywriting is what you use to get your customers and potential customers totake a particular action. For example: • Call you for more information • Place an order • Sign up for your mailing list • Get them to refer a friend to your businessMany business owners make the mistake of thinking they can just throwtheir copywriting together. I congratulate you for taking the time to read thisguide because the information in it will put you ahead of many other smallbusiness owners who make this mistake.Consider this:When someone visits your website or reads your brochure, you aren’t thereto answer their questions or to convince them how great your product is. Yourwords need to do that for you. In other words, you need effective copywriting.This guide is going to show you how to do that.

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Page 51 The Basics of Copywriting: Important TerminologyIn this chapter, I’ll go over some terminology that will help you in understandingthe principles of copywriting. Read each one in detail as I’ve not only included thedefinition of each word, but I’ve also added: • Examples and further detail for deeper understanding of these important concepts. • Exercises to apply these concepts.This information will serve as your foundation of knowledge in allthe copywriting you do for your business.

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Page 61.1 Target Market:Your target market is the group of people you’re selling your product to. Youhave to be very specific when you define your target market, in order to makeyour copywriting most effective. You can’t just say “women, moms or pet owners”because that is still vague.What women?Which moms?Which pet owners?When defining your target market, there are many things to consider. We’ve made asmall list below, but it only touches the surface. For each target market, there are somany different factors that can make up your specific target market: • Age • Income • Interests • If it’s a woman, her marital status may come into play • If it’s a mom, you might want to have an idea about the age of her children; if she works outside the home, etc. • If it’s a pet owner, what kind of pet she has, what breed, etc. • Wants, wishes and desires * • Problems she needs solved **These last two are particularly important because this is what really motivatespeople to spend their money and buy products. Yes, they buy to satisfy theirimmediate needs, but desire is what drives people to spend their money readily.

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Page 7The following are important human motivators that have been identified bypsychologists. They will help you in understanding what motivates your readersto take action: • Fear • Exclusivity • Guilt • Greed • Need for approval • Convenience • PleasureSome people might see it as unethical to play too hard on the emotions of theirpotential customer, but you can use this information to really understandwhat motivates your target market.The more you understand your target market, the easier it will be to sell tothem. You will understand their point-of-view, the problems they have and howmuch they’d like a solution.The Problem with Being Too Vague:I’ve seen a number of business owners who try the vague “be everything toeveryone approach” and it’s really tough to make that work as a small businessowner. These people may sell candles online or cosmetics or a similar productand the business owner will say their target market is simply women. Theproblem is if you sell those things not all women are your target as I’ve alreadysaid.Let me explain further…

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Page 8There are plenty of women who don’t care much about candles and they’recontent buying the typical drugstore cosmetics or no cosmetics at all. Thosewomen are not your target market.Even a woman, who thinks candles are lovely and wears a little makeup now andthen, but doesn’t readily spend her money on those items, is not your targetmarket. You need to understand the woman who really wants to buy your productand she’ll buy it over and over again.Imagine Your Typical Customer:What are her wants and desires? What problems does she need solved? If youdon’t already know that, try surveying the customers that you already have. Askthem a few questions about themselves, why they bought the product, what theylike about it and what they don’t like. In return, offer them a coupon or a free giftor something, just to get that feedback. This information will be very valuable toyou.Think about your product:What is the single most important reason your target audience would want to buyit? You need to be able to empathize with your target market, identify theirproblems and show how your product solves that problem. If you think toogenerally about your target market, the passion is lost in your copy and it’s toughto get anyone excited about anything.For example, if you sell acne medication and you simply talk about theembarrassment of acne, you might get some sales. But if you know that yourtarget market for a specific ad campaign is teenagers, talking about beingteased at school, worrying that they won’t find a date and having a case study ofa teenager who overcame that – your copywriting will be much more powerful.

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Page 9Here are a few more examples to illustrate how your target market is importantand how it can vary from product-to-product and ad campaign to ad campaign:If you sell more than one product and they’re related (example: skin cream andeye shadow), each product that you sell can have a slightly or even a verydifferent market. If the skin cream helps reduce wrinkles and the eye shadow is ina sparkly blue color, it’s likely the skin cream will appeal to a woman in her 30swho would like to reduce wrinkles. The sparkly blue eye shadow is more likely tobe appreciated by a younger, trendier audience. Of course, there are exceptionsand if you sell make-up, you have the opportunity to know your market best.Regardless, even within your own product line, you can identify differences inyour target market and your copy should reflect this.It is also possible that you have more than one very targeted market for anindividual product. If that’s the case, you can create different promotionalmaterials to target those specific audiences. For example, if you sell that wrinklecream and discover that not only are certain types of women buying the cream,but men are interested too, you can create promotional materials to target theproblems and interests of each group. That way, when you have differentadvertising campaigns or promotions, you can send people the appropriatemarketing materials.You will sell more to a highly-targeted group of people than trying a lukewarmapproach with the public in general. Leave general marketing to Amazon.com,Wal-Mart and other huge companies.Note – Here’s a Big Company That Does It Right: We mentionAmazon.com and yes, they target a general audience overall with a wide variety ofproducts, but a visit to their website will show you they customize their marketingright down to the individual visiting. They will show you like items based on whatyou are looking at on their site and they remember this the next time you visit

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Page 10and try to offer you complimentary items. They are about as specific in theirmarketing as they can get.Exercise: Start writing a list of all the characteristics of your typical customer.Use information gathered from customer surveys, as mentioned earlier in thissection, and write at least 15-20 specific characteristics. This list will help youas you make your way through this guide.1.2 USP:USP stands for Unique Selling Position and this is what sets you apart from yourcompetition. Put another way, a USP is some unique thing you offer that yourcompetition is not offering. Here are just a few examples of a USP. Your USP willlikely be very different: • Are you the only company that offers an unlimited time money back guarantee? • Do you cater to vegetarians when nobody else in your industry does? • Do you know the secret to a perfectly baked soufflé; what do you do that’s different? • Do you look for hard-to-find items for your clients in 24 hours or less?USP is a concept that is often difficult for people because every business isdifferent. You need to really sit down, brainstorm and figure out your USPbecause if you don’t, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd and compete in yourmarket.Warning: A lot of home businesses make the mistake of making their low price asthe USP. The problem is trying to sell for the lowest price is not often a profitablebusiness model, especially for small home businesses like you. If you’re not buyingand selling in huge volumes it’s just not worth it. Again, let’s leave this

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Page 11kind of marketing to large companies like Wal-Mart or Amazon. They can affordit.Some of the best customers you can ever have, don’t worry about price. In myexperience, the best customers are the ones who are more concerned aboutquality, exceptional service or that just buy because they plain old trust you andfeel you understand them. As a home business owner with a smaller budget,you don’t need to deal with bargain hunters.Here is one of the most important questions you’ll ask yourself whenformulating your USP: “Why would my customer buy my product instead of a competitor’s?”Think of what information or education you can provide to people who use yourproducts. Go the extra mile where other big companies may not. Findsomething different than competing on price because trying to offer the lowestprice will likely put you out of business. You want to price your products toreceive a decent profit. That way, you’ll need fewer sales to make just as much ormore money.Exercise: Make a list of 5-10 competitors and identify their USP. See how youcompare to these companies and their USP. For example, if one company’s USPis that they have the fastest delivery rates, are you able to compete with that? Ifanother company offers the longest hours of service, are you able to compete withthat? If there is a USP where you can outperform your competitor, you mightwant to pursue that option or you may still want to carve out your own uniqueposition in the market.Even if you think you’ve found your USP, continue the exercise, by giving yourself 5minutes to write down what is special about your products, service, etc. You can

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Page 12even invite family members and friends who know your business well to join inthis brainstorming. Look at the lists and see what other unique things you can findthat might just help you net more customers than one of your competitors.1.3 Features:You probably already have some idea what this word means. It basically describeswhat your product looks like, how it functions, etc. It is the basic informationabout your product. Although features may be important to your potentialcustomers, it’s the benefits that will make them want to buy your product.Exercise: Write down all the features of your product. Include every singledetail from color to size to function. You can’t write too much for this exerciseso write it ALL down.1.4 Benefits:Benefits are the advantages your customer receives from using your product. Asmentioned in the definition of features, in most cases, benefits will sell yourproducts better than a feature does. Although successful copy combines both,the best copy for most products focuses on the benefits.An example: You sell a ballpoint pen.The features are black ink, a felt tip, and it comes with a lid.The benefits are that it reduces hand cramping and eliminates smudges.Notice how when we talked about the features of the pen, it sounds like any otherpen, but when we talk about benefits, it make the pen sound more interesting.Those are benefits and they help sell your product. People have a problem and

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Page 13they want to solve it by buying your product. Show them the benefits of yourproduct.What If Your Customers Care About Features?Sometimes, you might sell a product where customers heavily compare features.One example of this might be Internet service for businesses. Businesses who needan Internet connection want to know the rates, the speed, etc. Internet service is agood example of a very feature competitive and focused business. You can still setyourself apart by illustrating some of the benefits of their service.If you have a great record of up-time, tell your potential customer about it andthat they don’t have to worry about losing sales when their sites are down asfrequently as with other service-providers. In this example, the feature is the up-time, but the benefit is not losing sales and that helps your potential customersvisualize why they might use your service. Someone may think up-time is just anumber Internet service providers throw out there, but when they think, “Ohyeah, if it’s not up, I’m going to lose a sale,” that’s when it reaches your targetmarket. That’s the kind of thing you want to talk to them about.As another example, if you respond to support tickets or calls within an hour,you can say so. You can write about how you are the “stress-free Internet serviceprovider that ensures your business can run as it should be 24-7”. Again, thefeature is having the response within an hour, but the benefit is less stress andagain not missing out on important business time.Exercise: Take that list of features you just created in the previous example andthen list a benefit for each feature. This list will not only help you understandyour product’s benefit, but once you’ve done this exercise, you will have a largeportion of the copy for your product done. You can put that information in bulletpoint format onto your web page or brochure.And speaking of “bullets”…

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Page 141.5 BulletsBullets are one of the greatest things you’ll come to love about copywriting. Theyare relatively easy to write and they can also sell your product exceptionally well.The following are examples of bullet points: • What exactly a transcriptionist does and why her services are in such demand. • Perks of having your own transcriptionist business: Learn about the low start-up costs, how to set your own hours and work with the flexibility this business provides.Bullets can be about the benefits of your products or the feature and often willinclude both just like we showed in the previous two exercises.Bullet points are an easy way to deliver a lot of information about yourproduct, efficiently and effectively to your prospect. If you formatted all thisinformation into paragraph format, they might not read it as readily.Bullet points can also “tease” your readers into having more interest for yourproduct. This is particularly effective when you’re selling an informationalproduct, course or book. A good bullet point teases about what’s included andgets them excited to buy, but doesn’t give away the actual information you’reselling. You don’t want to give your product away for free, of course!For example (This is purely fictional, of course!):Bad bullet point: • Passionately kiss your husband each morning and he’s sure to stay faithful.

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Page 15Good bullet point: • Do this one thing each morning and your husband’s eyes will never stray to another woman.The first bullet point gives away what’s in your information product. The otherone tells the BENEFIT of what’s included (the faithful husband), but doesn’t tellyou how to do it.

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Page 161.6 Headlines:Your headline belongs at the top of your sales letter, web page, ad or any copyyou are creating. Capitalize all the words in your headline and make it nice andbig and bold to ensure it gets attention.All good copy has an attention-getting headline. People are busy and you onlyhave a limited amount of time to grab their attention. They won’t read the smallprint on your page if you don’t get their attention. A clear, benefit-orientedheadline can help you do this.A headline that simply says “We Sell X Widgets” doesn’t say enough to get areader to keep reading. Many people probably sell X Widgets. Why should theylearn more about yours?If you are having trouble figuring out headlines to use, here are a few headlinestarters. These are very common ones that are proven to work and you can trythem out for your copy or do something completely different. These are just a wayto start getting your mind going: • “Who Else Wants to ___ " This is an easy way to start; relate to your audience. An example: “Who Else Wants to Save Up to 50% on Their Phone Bill? Try Our Rates Calculator to Find the Best Deals on Long Distance. “ • “How __ Made me __ and It Can Help You Too” An example: “How X-Brand Weight-Loss Shake Made Me Lose 37 Pounds in 7 Weeks” • “Are You___?”

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Page 17 An example: “Are You Tired of Unsightly Bags under Your Eyes? Apply Just a Dab of X Cream Once a Day for 6 Days and Watch the Puffiness Disappear. “ • “The Secrets to____” Everybody loves secrets…tell them about yours. An example: “The Secrets to Rekindling the Romance with Your Husband” • “Give Me __ and I’ll ____” An example: “Give me 15 Days and I’ll turn Your Ever-Reluctant Child into an Avid Reader”. Tell them what they have to put in to it and what benefit they will get out of it.More Tips for Creating Great Headlines: Another great way to find goodheadlines is simply looking at websites, brochures and other sales copy and seewhat grabs your attention. You can use some of those ideas in your ownheadlines.Be Specific: In one of the headlines, we talked about losing 37 pounds in 7weeks. The headline mentioned a certain product; the subject lost a certainamount of weight in a certain amount of time. Being specific is very important inheadlines and copy, in general, because that’s what really grabs attention.Being vague and saying things like “reduce eye puffiness” may grab someattention but telling them how easy it is; “a dab of cream once a day for 6 days”…that’s something people will say hey, I could do that. When you don’t give themthat extra information right away; they may not keep reading.Exercise: Visit a few websites or read ads in a newspaper or magazine. Seewhat grabs your attention. Can you incorporate those ideas into your headline?

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Page 181.7 Subheadlines:Sub-headlines are additional headlines in your sales copy. Usually, subheadlineswon’t be as big as other headlines in your copy, but they’ll be bold and eachword will be capitalized to get attention. Subheadlines help break up your copy to make it easier to read. It also helps get the attention of people who are skimming, rather than reading your sales copy. Use sub- headlines to draw attention to important sections of your copy every couple of paragraphs. Be specific in your sub- headlines and use benefits too.Example: If you have written promotional copy for your free weekly emailnewsletter, you’ll want subheadlines to draw in the eyes to important parts of thecopy.When you are about to include some bullet points about what’s included in yournewsletter, you might have a subheadline that reads: Here’s What’s Included in Your Free Subscription to XXXXXThen, just before you introduce your subscription form, you can havea subheadline that says:Claim Your Free Subscription by Completing the Simple Form BelowThose are simply examples and copy that is more than a couple of paragraphs canbe broken up in that manner.Exercise: If you have some longer copy written (or if you’re about to write some)go back and see where you can insert subheadlines. Visually, you’ll see how itdraws your eyes in, will help skimmers find the information they are looking forand how it makes instructions clearer for your readers.

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Page 191.8 TestimonialsA testimonial is positive feedback from someone who has used your products.Testimonials can be one of your most powerful online marketing tools. Whensomeone is looking to buy a product, she often seeks the opinion of someone elsewho has used the product, right? If you have testimonials from your previouscustomers presented in your marketing materials or website copy, you alreadyhave a head start on making the sale.Warning: You need to make sure your testimonials are meaningful. Look atthese testimonials and decide if they are believable or would make you interestedin a product: • “I love it.” - Jan • “This is the best ever.” • “This is going to be a great product.” - Jim Bob, FloridaAs you can probably see, the above testimonials are quite meaningless andprobably won’t add much to your marketing message. Here are some problems: • It’s nice that Jan loves the product, but we don’t know why. Nor do we really know who she is or if she’s a real person. • The second also doesn’t explain why it’s the best and we don’t know who made these comments. • The last example at least has a full name “Jim Bob” and we know he’s from Florida, but it looks like he hasn’t even tried the product. He says it is “going to be a great product.” Just asking someone to comment on what your product might be like isn’t an effective use of a testimonial.

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Page 20A testimonial should include concrete and believable detail:Testimonials should include information about how your customer usedthe product and the specific results she achieved.Testimonials should also provide as much information about the testimonialprovider as possible. Consumers are a skeptical bunch and if you don’tconvince them “Jan” or “Jim Bob” are real, they might not believe yourtestimonials. Where possible, include: • Full names (first and last) • Location (city and state/province) • Photos - Before and after photos, if applicable, can be very effective • Other proof of results – For example, if your product helped a child’s grade improve in school. You can show photos or scanned images of reports showing the improvement.If you think your customers won’t offer this information, you won’t know untilyou ask. You might also give them a little gift in return for their details andfeedback. It can be a coupon, sample pack or anything you’d like. Just be carefulin wording your gift offer. Asking someone for positive feedback in return for agift can be seen as a bribe and would likely be illegal. Gifts should be offered inreturn for any type of feedback – positive or negative.The important thing is to get as much credible information you can for yourtestimonials. 10 mediocre testimonials are not nearly as effective as 3 great ones.So, if fewer people say yes to offering their personal information, that’s just fine.Exercise: Set up a questionnaire for your customers and offer them a gift of avaluable coupon or sample in return for any feedback they provide. Even if youreceive some negative feedback, this is your opportunity to view it asconstructive criticism and see how you can improve your business.

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Page 21 • How long have you been using our product? • How has XXXX improved since starting to use the product (X being the main benefit of your product)? • How do you use the product (ex. at work, to relieve pain, etc)? • How much time do you invest in using the product on a weekly basis? • What is the most helpful/useful part of the product? • What would you say to someone who is interested in buying the product. • What other information would you like to share with us?A questionnaire is often more effective than simply asking for feedback. If peopleare happy with the product, they will say so, but don’t often provide themeaningful detail you need for an effective testimonial.If you receive positive feedback that is particularly useful as a testimonial,contact the person who gave it to you and ask if you can publish: • Their full name • Picture • City and State/Province • Any proof they haveDon’t be shy in asking. You may have to explain the purpose of all theinformation. Tell them how proud you are of their success and you really want toshowcase them a real-live success story.1.9 Call-to-action:Your call-to-action is what you ask you reader to do once they read yourpromotional copy. It can be something as simple as calling you for moreinformation, signing up for your mailing list or buying your product. If you don’ttell people what to do, they are less likely to do it. Even if your copy implies theyshould buy your product, if you don’t ask for the sale, you won’t make it as often.

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Page 22Every piece of sales copy should have a call-to-action. Whether it’s a page onyour website, your business card or other piece of copywriting.Examples: Here are some examples of a call-to-action: • Click a link to place an order • Call a 1-800 number to place an order • Call a number to hear a recorded message • Fill in a form to enter a sweepstakesTip: You can easily put a call-to-action on the back of your business card.Invite your contacts to come to your website to sign up for your free newsletter,grab a sample or whatever you want them to do.Exercise: Take a look at every page of promotional material you’ve written.Ensure it has a call-to-action. If it doesn’t, fix it. If you are just getting startedwith your business, be sure to remember it as you design each business card,each and every page on your website, etc.1.10 OfferAn offer is simply what you are selling/giving to your readers.Example: You are selling a customized embroidered baby blanket. If yourcustomer pays you $35, they will get a 3’ x 3’ blanket in the color of their choice,design of their choice and embroidered message up to 25 letters. Additionaldesigns have an extra charge.Another example: An offer doesn’t have to involve the exchange of money. Inreturn for a first name and email address, you might give out a subscription tofree weekly email tips on growing and caring for a garden.

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Page 23Your offer is related to your call-to-action, but they’re not exactly the same thing.Your offer is what you will give in return for money or whatever you’re asking for.The call-to-action is the specific instruction you give for your potential customerto accept your offer.Exercise: Take some time to write out all the details of your own offer.Get specific like I mentioned in the examples above.That’s it for the terminology portion of this guide. Before you start making offersand giving a call-to-action, you need to understand a few more things first…

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Page 242 Tips for Writing Great CopyNow that you have an understanding of some of the important terminologyinvolved in copywriting and how you can make the most of those elements,here are some more tips to help you craft great copy.2.1 Speak to Your AudienceSince the sales copy you write is to promote your own products, it’s easy to makethe mistake of talking about yourself in your copy too much. The problem is, yourpotential customer doesn’t really care about you. They care about themselves,they want solutions to their problems and they want to know what you can do forthem. You need to focus on your customer first.A lot of sales copy is too focused on the business who is doing the selling:“We sell this…”“We’re great at this…”“We believe in customer satisfaction…”It’s simple enough to change wording around to focus more on “you” and howyou can help your potential customer. Turn it around and write things like thisinstead:“Are you looking for…”“If you need reliable…”“Your satisfaction is guaranteed…”

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Page 25Exercise: Go through your copy and change many of the “we’s” to “yous” andrewrite your copy based on the change in focus. When you’re done, you’ll seehow much more of a connection you can make with your reader. In most casesyou’ll be saying essentially the same thing (ex. Saying, “We believe in customersatisfaction” is pretty much the same as, “Your satisfaction is guaranteed”), butthe focus is on your potential customer.2.2 Avoid Excessive AdjectivesCan you see what’s wrong with the following copywriting example?:“The biggest and best e-book that will make you the happiest person on yourblock.”Here’s the problem: Outside of the fact that it’ pretty over-the-top with itsclaims, that sentence above is pretty meaningless. Nobody really cares if anebook is the biggest and this sentence really doesn’t say anything about why it’sthe best. Also, the word happiest is kind of meaningless. We all want to be happy,but if we are unhappy right now we have specific problems we need to havesolved. Telling someone they’re going to be happy doesn’t answer much for them.They want to know HOW you’re going to make them happy and how you’ll maketheir specific problems go away.The real problem with the sentence above is that it’s filled with adjectives thatdon’t give specifics. Adjectives describe nouns and they don’t provide readerswith good information. Make sure you answer these questions in your copy: • How are you the best • What makes you great • How do you care for your customerThat’s what people want to know. If you use too many adjectives, it endsup sounding like too much hype and the meaningfulness is lost.

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Page 26That doesn’t mean you can’t use adjectives in your copy. Of course, you’re stillgoing to use them, but your copy should be able to stand on it’s own withoutall the extra words.Exercise: If you want to see if your copy can stand up on its own, pick a coupleparagraphs from your website or your entire page and remove all theadjectives. Does it still sound compelling? Is it selling your product?If not, it’s probably time to start working on being specific and we’ll talkabout that next.2.3 Be SpecificI talk about this briefly when I wrote about headlines. Let’s get into this moreand really understand how being specific can help you sell more of your product.Instead of saying you ARE the best, say WHY you are the best. Instead of sayingyou’re fast; explain how fast and in what specific ways. Let’s say, if you are aprinting service and you provide fast printing, tell them on average how muchtime you need to finish a project. If you aren’t willing to say how quickly youcan complete a project, then you’re probably not that quick and shouldn’t beusing that angle.When we’re talking about copy we’re giving people as much detailed informationas possible so people can make an informed decision about a product,newsletter, or whatever our call to action is.Have you ever been to a website and thought about buying a product, but youweren’t 100% sure it had the features/benefits you needed? It happens all thetime. A lot of product-sellers think they can slap up a picture and add a fewwords and watch the sales roll in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

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Page 27You simply can’t give too much information about your product. Yes, you can betoo wordy and put your reader to sleep, but if you’re giving people informationthat they need to make a buying decision, there is no such thing as too muchinformation. You want them to have all their questions answered and get themto buy.Another good way to be specific is to quantify things. If you have an ebook, thathas 37 ways to reduce your cholesterol, tell them there are 37 ways. Don’t saythere are “plenty of ways” or “this ebook is packed with ideas to help you loweryour cholesterol”. A specific number like 37 as opposed to a round number like30 also tends to generate a better response. It’s not completely clear why thisoccurs, but it’s likely because round numbers might seem made up orestimated, but when you say 37 it puts a specific picture in their mind.Exercise: Look at things you’ve written for your business. Where can you bemore specific? What can you quantify?2.4 Don’t Worry So Much about GrammarAs you continue with your business, there will be people that tell you that propergrammar is very important to maintain a professional image. Some of yourwebsites visitors may even take the time to email and tell you about the spellingand grammar mistakes that completely outraged them. Don’t let this worry youtoo much. Correct the spelling and if the grammar is outrageous, fix it – butkeep reading to find out why grammar isn’t as important as it’s cracked up to be.The most important thing about your sales copy or articles is to sound naturaland to relate to your target audience appropriately. Write the way you speak.Naturally, if your audience is PHD students studying literature, then you mighthave to have a more formal tone and pay more attention to more grammarrules. If you’re audience is race-car enthusiasts or those interested in fashiontrends, you might be more relaxed in your writing and speak more casually.

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Page 28 Most markets are going to be more casual, so you want to create a friendly and real image with your copy. It’s okay to start sometimes sentences with “and” and “but” now and then because it’s how we speak and when you write how you speak, it’s how you relate to your audience. It’s ok to end a sentence with a preposition because, again, that’s how we speak.Exercise: Look at your copy and see how formal or informal you are. Canyou see how you could make it sound more friendly, appealing and create aconnection with your reader? If you’re too formal, you might just lose youraudience all together. You don’t want to sound uneducated but you want to benatural. Most of your grammar is going to be correct, but there are some rulesyou don’t necessarily have to worry about for the sake of readability.Final Note: If you’re going to have someone proofread your copy, whether it’s afriend, virtual assistant or professional proofreader, make sure they understandwhat you are looking for; that your spelling is correct, the language flows welland the copy sounds intelligent but friendly.2.5 Keep it SimpleWrite in short sentences to make things easy to read. Break up long paragraphs toease eye-strain. Again, it’s okay to break grammar rules – especially withparagraph formatting because reading long paragraphs can be fatiguing. This isparticularly true online and where people are reading on a screen. Don’t tire yourpotential customer out before they read about your product.You can also bullet points, as we mentioned earlier, and these may includeincomplete sentences. Luckily that is actually acceptable in grammar rules!The key is to make it easy to read.Don’t use complicated language and make the level appropriate for your targetaudience. The average reading level of the general public is quite low. If you feel a

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Page 29more advanced word is more appropriate always define the word, in case yourreaders don’t know what it means.2.6 Keep Layouts SimpleIt’s easy to get excited about your product and when crafting your brochure orwebsite design, it can be tempting to include so many things. Add photos toaccentuate the copy, but don’t allow them to take over. Pictures are important increating visuals, but it’s your words that will make your copy sell.On the Internet, keeping it simple is especially important. Web surfers only giveyou a few seconds before they decide to click away and never to come back toyour website again. If you don’t grab attention or you confuse them with a busywebsite, they are more likely to make that decision to leave.Here are some important tips for your website layouts: • Keep your website navigation to a minimum. Create sub-categories to your website sections if necessary to minimize menu distractions. • If you’re selling your own product on a particular page, it’s usually best to remove all banners or graphics going to outside pages. • Keep your page header or logo simple and small. Don’t let it take over the whole “above-the-fold” space on your website. “Above-the-fold” simply means the space on your web page a visitor can see without scrolling down with her mouse. A logo or page header can help with branding and can convey a more professional image, but it doesn’t have to be huge to do that. Most of the above-the-fold space should be reserved for selling your product.Exercise: Review your web pages and promotional copy and try to view it fromthe eyes of someone who is unfamiliar with you, your company or your product.Are you immediately able to receive the intended marketing message or are their

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Page 30other distractions on the page? Try to clean things up and then ask othersfor honest feedback.2.7 Be Succinct & EditEarlier, I told you how important it is to provide as much information about yourproduct, so that your customer can make an informed buying decision. I stillstand by that, but I want you to also be as succinct (using only as many words asnecessary) in your copy as possible.There’s a difference between summarizing your offer and just repeating yourselfover and over again. Although it’s true that detail is what really sells yourproduct, you want to make sure your copy is succinct and receives properediting attention.Exercise: Go through your copy and make sure that you’re not being repetitiveor adding extra information your potential customer doesn’t need. If you startout with really long copy, go over it over and over again, until you’ve fine-tuned itinto a well-oiled selling machine. It’s not the length that can be a problem, butthe message you are sending with your copy.2.8 Sense of Urgency – Get Them to Buy NowEven though people may be excited about your product after reading about it,they may just decide they’ll buy later. Problem is, most times when they decide tobuy later; they never get around to it. They’ll lose your brochure, throw out thenewspaper with your ad or forget where your website is.To prevent this, you need to create a sense of urgency. In other words, makethem feel like they need to buy now. Here are some ways you can make them feellike buying now:

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Page 31 • Offer a time-limited discount • Limit the distribution of your product • Offer them extra bonuses or goodies with your product, but only for a limited time. • Show them how serious their particular problem is and why they should find a solution nowWhatever you can do to make them purchase now, the more likely you’ll make thesale.Exercise: Go through your promotional material and make sure you’ve addeda sense of urgency to everything. Whether it’s to encourage them to find asolution to their problem now or to offer a time-limited discount, you canalways add a little sense of urgency.2.9 Close the Deal – Call-to-ActionNever forget to ask for the sale. Or if you want people to call you for moreinformation, fill out of a form or sign up for a mailing list, tell them exactly whatyou want to do. I defined the call-to-action in the previous section, but it’sdefinitely worth mentioning again.Your call-to-action can include: • A summary of your offer. • Your price and why the price provides good value. • Specific instruction on how to complete the call to action.In the previous 2 chapters, I’ve provided you with the foundations of what it takesto write effective sales copy. If you already have an established business, you haveplenty of opportunities to go back and improve your sales messages. If you arejust getting started, you are already ahead of much of your small business

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Page 32competition. Most small businesses don’t really understand copywriting and rely onmore person-to-person selling and follow-up. You will still likely be involved withperson-to-person selling, but as a busy mom with great copywriting skills under herbelt, you can reduce plenty of legwork with great copy that sells!If saving time is your thing, you’ll want to continue onto the next chapter,especially if you don’t have your own website. Keep reading to find out how yourown website can further help you increase your sales and reduce a lot of yourwork time, so you can have more time with your family.

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Page 333 Why a Marketing Mama Needs a Website for Her Copywriting PlanAs home business owners, sometimes we feel at a disadvantage because we don’thave an actual storefront where our customers can visit and examine our wares.Often we have to get out there, demonstrate products one person at a time or to asmall group of people at a time.The good news is, there is a virtual storefront available to you and you can have itopen 24 hours per day 7 days a week. Yes, I’m talking about your website and intoday’s virtual age, more and more people are readily turning to the Internet forinformation and products.As I mentioned before, effective copywriting often reduces our workload. Itallows us to sell our product without customers having to contact us with follow-up questions or turning away because they don’t have enough information. Awebsite can help you with this even further.Benefits of Having Your Own Website: • 24/7 storefront • Answer questions from potential customers in the middle of the night • Build your mailing list. Use simple forms on your site to collect email

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Page 34 • addresses and follow-up with your prospects, so they will buy later. • Targeted landing pages for your advertising. For example, if you advertise in a men’s magazine, you can send them to a specific page on your website that addresses their concerns. • Business card marketing. Make a special offer on your business card and send people to your website to claim it. • You can only offer a few products in a brochure, your website can let your prospects know about your whole product line. • Up-to-date and cheaper catalog of your products. If you are doing off-line marketing, you’ll still want a printed catalog, but your online catalog is very convenient to keep current.If you’re proficient in HTML (the language used to build websites) or have a littletime to learn you may be able to save some money by building your own websiteon software such as Dream Weaver.If you don’t have the experience or the upfront cash to invest in the softwareyou can consider an online website builder. These take the hassle out of gettingonline because they provide the hosting and make it easy for anyone (even thosewithout HTML skills) to set up a professional looking website.

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Page 354 ClosingCopywriting helps you clinch a sale when you’re not there to do it. Whenpeople visit your website, you aren’t there to personally greet them. Whensomeone looks at your business card a few weeks after they meet you, how willthey remember you? If you hand-out brochures, make sure they’re effectiveenough that people will want to buy from you.Use the copywriting basics to guide you in crafting all your marketingmessages. The words on your page, on your business card or brochure convey alot about you and your business. Make sure you’re sending the right message.With a little thought, practice and perseverance, your copywriting will be asuccess!Gabor Olahwww.IncomeAutopilot.comRecommended Resources • For cheap domain names click here • For a hosting account you can trust click here • For the best PLR membership click here